Israeli, Palestinian and international rights group have accused Israel of abuses and war crimes during its offensive on Gaza this year. The charges, which Israel denies, include accusations of firing on medical workers and UN buildings and killing civilians.

Israel's offensive in Gaza has sparked protests around the world, but very little opposition at home. Palestinians and Israelis give their reaction to the operation and explain what they see as the background and context.

While many ordinary French people protested and demonstrated against the recent Israeli incursion into Gaza, a young comic strip artist decided to do his bit and set up the Gaza Collectif. Their book hits the shelves this week.

A French transport company has lost a contract to run Stockholm's underground rail system, amid criticism of its involvement in the construction of a transit system that serves Jerusalem and West Bank settlements. So could links with Israel prove bad for business?

Now that the Israeli tanks have pulled out of Gaza, aid workers, food and medical supplies are slowly beginning to trickle in. A delegation from France went to speak to Palestinians and tell their story.

A Molotov cocktail type firebomb was thrown at a synagogue in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis late Sunday, the latest incident of anti-Semitic violence in France since the start of Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Israeli jets bombed tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Wednesday, after an attack which killed one Israeli soldier on Tuesday. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to convene the Security Cabinet to discuss the attack, as US envoy George Mitchell arrives in Israel.

Israel has halted bombing of the Gaza Strip for three hours, after announcing that it would do so every day to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. France on Wednesday condemned the Israeli air-strike on a UN school in Gaza, which killed at least 42 people. Egypt has put forward a three-point peace plan.

The death toll from fighting in Gaza continues to rise as 40 Palestinians were killed while sheltering in a UN school and as the UN Security Council prepared to meet on Tuesday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has met the Syrian head of state and has extended his current tour of the Middle East to meet for a second time with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.

As the French President prepares to spend two days meeting with Middle East leaders, thousands marched over the weekend throughout the country to denounce the Israeli attacks on Gaza, while others marched to support what they see as an assault on Hamas.

Israel is keeping open the option of reopening hostilities as rockets landed near the town of Sderot on Sunday. Leo Vinovezky of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Hamas' infrastructure is not completely destroyed and points out that that IDF remains in the Gaza strip "ready for any scenario".

A group of women in the south of Israel are collecting food and clothing other for soldiers. RFI's Tony Cross speaks to Ariela Geneger, who explained why they are making made their gesture and why she believes that Israelis and Palestinians must talk to each other.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, correspondent Riham Abdel Karim in Gaza City says the Israeli offensive has forced large numbers of Palestinians to move from their homes. She says anger in the Gaza strip remains directed at Israel rather than Hamas.